Slow Deterioration
by Oh Gosh Creativity
Summary: "This once heaven sent building had small pockets of hell hidden away, huddles of walkers had been disguised as perfectly safe rooms but once discovered, turned into a death sentence. " Can they escape or will they fall prey to the army of the dead? Possible ending to The Walking Dead. I do not own The Walking Dead! That belongs to Kirkman! I am just a poor student!


Pain. Pain everywhere. Pain emanating from every crevice of his body. It shoots through every nerve and cell until it feels like his entire insides are obliterated from existence.

Rick Grimes has never felt such pain before, the death of his wife to childbirth could not even match this searing burn of destruction that would soon wipe him from the face of the earth and replace him with an empty shell of a man, no, not a man, a monster, that's sole purpose in existing is to eat, kill and ruin anything living that may stand a chance being in this dusty, empty sphere that once held life. Beautiful, wondrous life.

This mere thought alone that floats across his deteriorating mind causes his eyes to flicker down to the squirming, warm bundle held limply in his arms. This warm bundle of a miracle that should of died long ago but still defied all odds in this world ruled by the dead. Rick stared down at his daughter and couldn't still believe that she had survived. She is wrapped in a tatty, old blanket covered in grime and blood, some his own as well as others.

Rick's thoughts soon move to why he was in the situation he was in now. He had known that the prison was never going to be permanent and it had reached its final hurdle. They had lost too many people, losing Sasha and Tyreese had been the final straw. So, they packed up what they could and left through the back of the prison. This had been a fatal mistake. This once heaven sent building had small pockets of hell hidden away, huddles of walkers had been disguised as perfectly safe rooms but once discovered, turned into a death sentence.

_As the group moved further towards their desired destination, these dormant hideaways soon awakened to smell of fresh blood. These unexpected monsters appeared, snarling and hungry for flesh startling the entire group. They took down the ones closest but more and more continued to appear so the running began. _

Aching memories flash through his decaying brain.

_Beth and Maggie had been the first ones to go, dragged down by armies of the undead. _

Remembering Glenn and Hershel's contorted faces of agony causes a shudder to push through the fire of pain in Rick's body, it almost falters his steps but he must keep going, to find help.

Rick pushes through the agonising pain and whips his head round frantically, eyes scanning the horizon for the heaven sent outlines of people to take his daughter and save her before he can turn but to no avail. He continues to stumble across land, blood still flowing from bites and scratches littered across his back and shoulders. There must be someone.

More excruciating memories flutter across his eyes.

_They had been running for a long time, Hershel was beginning to slow, Glenn was gripping the man by the arm, trying to get him to keep up with the remainder of the group but Hershel tripped whilst running up a small set of stairs. Glenn tried to pull him up by grasping his upper arms. Daryl and Carol turned to help but Glenn just screamed "Go! Go!" and waved them away. They moved away and continued to run but soon heard the screams of Hershel and then a single gun shot, a short pause and then another shot. Rick felt the desire to slow and go back but he looked up and locked eyes with Carl and felt the small wriggle from Judith in his arms and continued to run, he must keep going, for them. _

_They could soon see the bright, broken opening of the back of the prison, their freedom. The mere sight of it caused them all to move faster from just sheer desire of release from this hell. What they hadn't expected was a door just to the right of them to burst open and more stumbling corpses to reach for them. This brought them to a sudden halt, they had to get past but there were so many. Rick was looking around bewildered, looking for a way out, there had to be something. His focus wasn't on his family around him until he heard the piercing scream of Carol, "Nooo!" that caused his head to whip round, fast enough for him to witness the most soul destroying moment of his entire life. Carol was running towards Carl who was being impaled by the rotting bone of one walker's arm, piercing through Carl's stomach. Carol ran full pelt at the walker, pull the bone from Carl's stomach and stabbed the walker in the eye with her small knife. Rick couldn't believe what he was seeing, he couldn't move, sheer shock had paralysed him. Until the next shout pulled him to reality. _

_Carol had been kneeling next to Carl who had by this time slumped to the floor, a small circle of blood slowly appearing on the front of his shirt, she was stroking his hair and murmuring to him when Daryl shouted the most panic filled scream Rick had ever heard come from the man, "Carol, no!" thus, causing Carol's head to whip round and look at Daryl. A walker then saw it's chance and pounced onto Carol's unsuspecting neck. Her scream pierced the room and Rick watched rage fill Daryl's face. Daryl raised his crossbow and shot a single arrow through the walker's head and then sprinted to Carol's side. _

_Rick's senses had slowly returned to him and he staggered towards his only son who was slowly dying on the cold concrete floor. He knelt down next to Carl and looked down at his pale, panic stricken face and for the first time since the apocalypse had begun, he didn't know what to do. He could hear Daryl speaking quickly with a tear filled voice to Carol, "I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry...", repeated over and over. Rick felt a small tug on his arm and looked down to see a dirty, bloody hand belonging to Carl there. He looked at his son who slowly said with great difficulty, "I'm ok, Dad. I'm going to be ok..." Carl's determination to live broke Rick's heart, they both knew full well that Carl wouldn't live much longer. And, he heard the growls of the undead not far behind them so they were going to have to keep moving but Rick couldn't bear to move from his son's side. _

_Rick then felt a shake on his shoulder, he turned his head a fraction to see Daryl looking down at him and he just said, "I'm sorry but we have to go." Rick turned to look at where Carol had once been lying and saw that she was still. Rick moved to stand up and saw the end of an arrow sticking out the side of Carol's head. Daryl noticed Rick staring at Carol's body and stooped to gather Carl's body in his arms. As he raised his head, he locked eyes with Rick and gave him one stiff nod before moving on towards the light at the end of the corridor. Rick gave one last look at the woman who had given everything to caring for his children and followed Daryl towards the light. _

_They were moving a little slower now due to sheer exhaustion but also down to Carl and Judith having to be carried. There was an uncomfortable silence between the two men as the light at the end of the corridor got nearer. Rick was just about to offer some words of comfort to Daryl when the unmistakable sound of growling reached their ears. Whipping his head round, he saw the two doors they had just passed were being scratched and banged against and there was also the clear sound of creaking as the doors were slowly losing the ability to hold the weight of the dead. Rick and Daryl quickened their pace until they heard the loud crash of the doors falling to floor and the snarls of the hungry walkers surrounding them._

_They could see two large double doors ahead of them with a green exit sign above them, Rick's mind filled with hope at the possibility of the doors slowing the walkers down if closed. Rick ran through the doors, holding Judith tightly. Daryl then quickly followed, laying Carl down on the ground and moving to close the doors. Rick knelt next to his son who was slowly losing consciousness and tried to keep him awake by stroking his sweaty face until he heard the shout of Daryl that caused him to tear his eyes from his son to the double doors where Daryl had just been. _

_Time slowed down for Rick as he witnessed the scene in front of him. Daryl was being grabbed by the shirt from behind and being slowly dragged backwards by thousands of dead hands. Fear crossed Daryl's face as his imminent death approached. As Daryl was dragged backwards he managed to grab the door handles of the large double doors and slammed the doors behind him leaving Rick in echoing silence with just the sounds of his son's laboured breaths filling the air. _

_Rick had just lost his best friend. There was no way Daryl would have survived that many walkers. He was gone. The man he saw as almost a brother, a man who had always had his back and had always protected him was now gone to the arms of the dead. But, there was no time for mourning. Carl's breathing was becoming louder and more strained. Rick had to do something. Now. _

_Rick knelt down once again by his dying son and couldn't imagine the excruciating pain he must be in. Carl's eyes were moving all around until they finally locked onto Rick's and Rick knew that he had to put Carl out of his misery. "I'm so sorry this happened to you, Carl. This should never have happened. I tried to do what was right, I tried to protect you and Judith and I failed. I wish things had turned out differently." Rick couldn't prolong this any longer. He placed Judith carefully on the ground and reached for the gun he had kept securely in his belt. He placed the cold metal of the barrel against Carl's temple and realised how much his hands were shaking, the full realisation about what he was about to do hit him like a ton of bricks. He was about kill his own son. But, it had to be done. Rick took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. _

_The single gun shot filled the corridor and the sudden sound caused Judith to cry. Rick stared down at his once breathing, beautiful son and slowly fell to his knees, tears running down his face and reached out to close his son's blank, dead eyes. The sounds of Judith's mewling caused his eyes to move to the writhing child on the floor a small distance away and he moved to collect her in his arms. He ran one grimy finger along her smooth cheek, he needed to find help, for her. She was all that mattered now._

_He continued down the corridor, the light from the end almost blinding, it was so close now. Rick kept thinking that this corridor would never end. Maybe this was all just a huge joke and he would never be free but then, he was there. At the crumbling, destroyed end of the prison and he was staring out at the bright outside. He breathed in deep lungfuls of fresh air, glad of some relief from the smell of undead. Just as he was about to climb down the rocky debris of the building, a severe pain spread out across his back and shoulders._

_Whilst he had been distracted by the outside world, Rick hadn't noticed the sound of shuffling feet behind him. Two walkers had slowly made their way out of one of the small rooms Rick had passed and had gradually made their way towards his warm flesh. One had reached out and scratched a long claw mark all the way down his back, the other had taken a huge chunk out of his left shoulder._

_Rick fought himself free and ran, haphazardly climbing down the debris the best he could. He needed to find help, someone must be around to take care of his daughter. _

And, thus, this had led Rick to where he was now. Stumbling up a long road, holding his daughter and slowly dying. He had to find someone. He could feel himself slowly losing consciousness. No, there had to be someone, please. He shook himself awake, he needed to stay awake. Think of Judith, stay awake.

Then, the sight he had been praying for suddenly appeared, the black silhouettes of human life in the distance. Rick blundered towards them, hope being the force keeping him going. But, the infection was slowly taking its toll, draining more life from his body and he collapsed again. Once he awoke again, a face was staring down at him, blurred but definitely a living human's face.

Rick could only manage to say one word before losing consciousness completely. "Please..."

Then, everything went black.

A single gun shot rang out through the open air and then there was silence.

* * *

**Greetings! And, thank you for reading my first ever fanfiction one shot. I know it will be ridiculously flawed and it will never be nearly as good as the other amazing writers on here. But, it is my first ever one so reviews would be greatly appreciated, I'd love some constructive criticism if you have it. I'd just like to thank my older brother, Harry, for the awesome idea for this fic. So, thank you again. Molly, signing off. **


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